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Realistic APM-500 connection question

S

stageninja21

New Member
Hello all,
New to audio world, working on adding a Realistic APM-500 power meter to the first system I'm setting up. My old speakers have RCA plugs and the APM uses spring terminals. I'll be connecting all my components to a splitter since I have multiple input devices, splitter also has RCA jacks.

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My noob question is, what's the best way to connect the APM since it does not have RCA plugs? Should I get a set of RCA to spring terminal connectors and cut off the RCA plugs from the speaker wires? I assume I'd be able to fit both the speaker wire and the wire from the APM into the spring connector hole but I'm not sure if that's the best way. Is there some sort of RCA tap that would be better?

Sorry if this is a basic question, but I really want to do this right since I have limited cash and don't want to break anything with my lack of knowledge /experience. Have prowled around this forum for info before and i figured y'all would be able to give me the best answer
 
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You connect your APM-500 to the speaker left and right from your receiver, or amp. You don’t connect it to the input or output of your sources.
 
As lowstrings said, it has to connect to the amplifier outputs. But, it's not real clear what you have going on there because I don't see anything that looks like an amplifier.
 
The splitter on top is not where you hook up your speaker wires.
The splitter has inputs and outputs for your devices,using the RCA plugs.
Your receiver or amp will have the speaker connections,most have connections for bare wire like the spring terminals but there are exceptions.
To hook up the APM 500,according to the owners manual, you will have a total of 8 speaker wires.
You will use 4 wires from the receiver/amp to the speakers. left + and - , right + and - .
You will use 4 wires from the receiver/amp to the APM 500. left + and - , right + and - .
HiFi Engine does offer a copy of the APM owners manual for viewing.
 
It can be connected in parallel to the amp/speakers with just four wires.

There is no need to run wires from amp to meter then from meter to speakers, unless it is more convenient to do it that way.
 
whoaru99 said:
It can be connected in parallel to the amp/speakers with just four wires.

There is no need to run wires from amp to meter then from meter to speakers, unless it is more convenient to do it that way.
Click to expand...
That's how I hooked up my APM 100.
Here I thought it might be best to just explain exactly how the official owners manual has it hooked up.
 
whoaru99 said:
As lowstrings said, it has to connect to the amplifier outputs. But, it's not real clear what you have going on there because I don't see anything that looks like an amplifier.
Click to expand...
Yeah sorry I didn't explain my situation very well, I have two stereo units, each with an integrated amp, which is why I have the splitter, my goal was to be able to use the APM to compare output from the different stereos (one at a time)
 
triple20 said:
The splitter on top is not where you hook up your speaker wires.
The splitter has inputs and outputs for your devices,using the RCA plugs.
Your receiver or amp will have the speaker connections,most have connections for bare wire like the spring terminals but there are exceptions.
To hook up the APM 500,according to the owners manual, you will have a total of 8 speaker wires.
You will use 4 wires from the receiver/amp to the speakers. left + and - , right + and - .
You will use 4 wires from the receiver/amp to the APM 500. left + and - , right + and - .
HiFi Engine does offer a copy of the APM owners manual for viewI didn't explain my situation very well, I have two stereo units, each with an integrated amp, which is why I have the splitter, my goal was to be able to use the APM to compare output from the different stereos (one at a time)
Click to expand...

Thank you, sorry I didn't explain my situation very well. I have two stereo units, each with an integrated amp, which is why I have the splitter, my goal was to be able to use the APM to compare output from the different stereos (one at a time)

Was hoping I could grab that manual but Hifi engine says they're not accepting new registrations right now and I would need to register an account in order to access ..
 
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